15mm Libyan Javelinmen

A quick post of a dozen stands of Libyan javelinmen I completed last week. These are again Xyston, although a little slighter than some of the others in their range:

Some of the poses are quite dynamic and really give the impression of a skirmisher about to let loose his javelin. All the figures are depicted with mohawks which has an ornament tucked through the front of it:

They remind me of North American natives, apart from the shields:

I am still not quite sure what the shield are meant to depict; possibly some form of hide shield with feathers attached at the top. I looked online and couldn't see any examples, so went with a brown hide look with white feathers attached:

Apart from one which I painted up as a pineapple:

That's the third unit finished with some Carthaginian Sacred Band figures currently on the painting table and nearing completion.

15mm Veteran Libyan Spearmen

Having completed eighteen elements of ordinary Libyan spearmen earlier this month, it was time to do them all over again, this time as the veterans which formed the backbone of Hannibal's army during his Italian campaign:

The figures are again Xyston and are represented in captured Roman armour and equipment. Given that there were an estimated 92,000 Roman troops killed or captured up to and including Cannae, there was no doubt a fair bit of equipment to choose from:

I used three main Little Big Men Studios shield designs and mixed them up a bit to give the impression of shields selected from three defeated legions:

I selected some of the later-looking figures from the command packs which I think match nicely with the rank and file figures:

That's another eighteen elements completed, although of course this unit will not be taking the field alongside the previously completed Libyan spearmen:

I have some Libyan javlinmen on the painting table at the moment, and am hopeful I'll get them completed and based within the next week.

15mm Libyan Spearmen

Following the completion of an Ancient Spanish army I decided to get stuck straight into some 15mm Carthaginians while I have the motivation to continue with the ancients theme. The first unit to be completed are eighteen elements of Libyan spears which really form the heart of the Carthaginian army list.

The figures are from Xyston as usual, with the shield designs again by Little Big Men studios:

I have always had a soft spot for the Carthaginians and do find it sad that the Romans visited such total destruction on them at the end of the Third Punic War such that very little remains apart from Roman accounts and some vague outlines of where Carthage once stood. I can imagine Hannibal being quite mystified as to why the Romans wouldn't surrender when he had them on the rack in the Second Punic War, but they weren't playing by the same set of rules:

There is a variety of LBMS shield designs based around their symbol for the goddess Tanit, along with various horse and palm-tree motifs:

The shield transfers are smaller than the surface of the shields themselves so I did my best to blend them in where required:

I have also made use of the Foundry north African flesh colour which appears a little darker here than in natural light, but I was quite happy with the result and think I will use it for the bulk of the army:

The command figures include a nice assortment of officers, and I have combined these with a standard bearer and hornist from the musician pack where hornists are the only musicians actually provided, and I have accumulated around twenty of them:

That's seventy figures completed in all:

I now have the same number of veteran Libyan spearmen to complete next. These are modelled with captured Roman equipment and look sufficiently different to justify the additional effort, even though I could conceivably have used the same unit and I don't think anyone would really have complained.